I recently had a conversation with a coach about the current landscape of the game of basketball. Simply put, he said, “athleticism has grown while IQ has diminished.”
As a former player myself I didn’t want to agree. About the athleticism part, at least. Sometimes I’m guilty of the nostalgia of perceived talent from former generations that seems comparable in today’s game. But the reality is, the level of talent is ever-increasing.
An honest assessment of the game, really in all sports, is that it’s really being played with a higher level of talent than it was decades ago. Athletes are becoming bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled than ever before.
But why? Here’s one reason; specialized instruction. More young players are receiving individualized training by personal trainers. These instructors are guiding players in many areas of both on-court and off-court training. Even in the areas of health and diet.
Players are learning to eat the right foods and get proper rest and nutrition. They are utilizing non-contact training sessions for activities such as box jumps, agility drills, and other plyometrics. They are expanding their repertoire of in-game basketball skills such as jab steps, crossovers, euros, and offensive finishes at the rim.
It really is becoming quite the sight to see how the range of athletic ability and the skill sets (offensively in particular) are evolving in today’s game.
Here’s the question for me; given all that I see in today’s game of basketball, what are the fundamentals, the non-negotiables, that cannot be overstated?
Vertical jumps, offensive firepower, and highlight reels can be really impressive on a social media feed. But what about some of those less impressive skill sets that require time and attention to detail in a practice session that may go unnoticed to the casual eye in a game situation?
The fundamentals are the basic building blocks meant to provide a greater understanding of other facets of the game, not just a narrow focus of individual (offensive) performance. A casual list of basic fundamentals would include dribble, pass, and shoot. Certainly, these skills should be at the top of the list for development.
But you must remember that there is a wider range of skills to be developed that contribute to a more complete tool kit for individual and team success. And those skills must become non-negotiable in the development process. And I believe a lack of attention to those details has led to the diminished IQ that the coach spoke about.
Sometimes I possess a critical eye of observation about certain attitudes and actions that I would consider to be fundamentally non-negotiable in a successful program. The individual players must play within the system of the team concept established by its coaches. This means that those actions and attitudes must be possessed by coaches and players both on and off the court.
When observing a team it’s easy to be enamored by great passes, shots, and blocks. But there must be a keen awareness of the importance of making the simple plays, not just the flamboyant ones. Great passes aren’t always the right pass. Made shots aren’t always the best shots. A defensive steal looks stellar but what if it came from a blown defensive assignment? A stat sheet doesn’t show one player’s incredibly consistent defensive box outs in pivotal moments throughout the game.
Confidence, resilience, and humility are all attitudes that lie near the top of that list. To believe you can do what is asked, that you will do what is asked in the face of adversity, for the sake of everyone else on your team is an appropriate description of those words. This becomes easily noticeable in the form of body language and communication.
Now, here’s the shift in the conversation. Basketball lessons have the power to become life lessons. And in life, there are fundamentals, non-negotiables, that cannot be overstated. For me, it is my Christian faith. I understand that there is a myriad of world views. People have varied differences about what is to be prioritized in life. Even people in Christian circles can prioritize the fundamentals of their views differently.
Words like sin, faith, grace, mercy, law, commands–these are words that would characterize what many would call fundamentals of the Christian religion. And I do not disagree to their level of importance.
When you read the Bible there are many concepts that are emphasized that may cause an inquiring mind to wonder about the relevance and prominence of each of those terms. So, an appropriate question may be, “what’s of greatest importance?”
The foundation of the Christian faith is not a ‘what,’ it’s a ‘who.’ His name is Jesus. Fundamentally, this is the singular, non-negotiable theme of the Scriptures. Every other tenet of Christianity is built upon the person of Jesus Christ.
But all the aforementioned words are described within the context of the Scriptures. And it can become ambiguous about prioritizing those concepts within the realm of one’s world view. There is sin and rebellion. Laws and commands. Death and separation. Sacrifices and rituals. Gifts and blessings. Grace and forgiveness.
The Old Testament provides a distinguished list of laws meant to govern God’s people. Lots of laws. But when Jesus comes He re-orients their thinking around a singular concept that really encompasses a renewed perspective of what the law was meant to induce. Conformity to God.
Jesus was questioned, “what is the greatest commandment?” I’m paraphrasing here, but essentially Jesus said, “Love God and love people.” Not believe, not behave. It wasn’t a ‘do’ thing, it was a ‘be’ thing. The character and nature of God is love. John wrote an exposé that emphatically described the nature and character of God by saying, “God is love.”
It’s incredibly important to define and refine the key fundamentals of life. The fundamentals can seem so elementary and simple that they feel unimportant. But we must realize that they are invaluable. In basketball, a defensive box out often goes unnoticed but the play is magnified when a player fails to utilize that basic fundamental skill. So it is when a Christian fails to uphold Jesus as their greatest treasure rather compromises a key conviction they once held in many previous situations. Do not forsake the fundamentals. See them as non-negotiable in the realm of living a life that pleases the Lord.
Kortney Jones 
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